Great Business Ideas: Psychographic profiling

Great Small Business Ideas to Start: Psychographic profiling

To improve sales efficiency, customers can be divided into “groups” according to their personal needs and preferences; new customers can then be assessed and assigned to the appropriate group. This profiling combines psychological and demographic groupings— hence the term “psychographic.” This enables the business to cater to customers’ specific needs and preferences in a seamless and efficient way. This streamlining of customer knowledge allows companies to triumph in competitive and customer-focused markets.

The idea

“The Key to Happiness” was a self-diagnosis tool developed for Club Med customers. The business found that over 40 percent of customer dissatisfaction was directly linked to customers being recommended (or allowed to choose) the wrong type of location for their holiday. For example, a family would unwittingly choose a resort designed for single people, while a couple wanting to discover the local customs would mistakenly visit an empty island.

Further studies revealed Club Med had five customer segments:

  • Tubes, who like to be comfortable and with their family.
  • Celebrators, who like to party.
  • Epicureans, who prefer a high level of comfort.
  • Cultivated guests, who like to discover the country—its culture, history, and charm.
  • Activists, who want to get in shape and enjoy sports.

“The Key to Happiness” was a self-service system designed to help customers. It worked by using questions to fi nd out which of the five categories best suited the customer and which location would serve them best. As a result of this system, business grew both in the short term, as customers found what they wanted, and in the long term, as satisfied customers kept returning.

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In practice